Stars : Sven Wollter, Eva Rexed, Björn Bengtsson, Philip Zandén. (In Swedish with English Subtitles)Episode 3: Morene & The Silence- When a girl is murdered soon after leaving a closed religious community, Moreno faces a difficult investigation as the community closes ranks and refuses to cooperate. When another girl is abducted and her bloody fingernails mailed to the police, tongues begin to loosen." />

(In Swedish with English Subtitles)Episode 3: Morene & The Silence- When a girl is murdered soon after leaving a closed religious community, Moreno faces a difficult investigation as the community closes ranks and refuses to cooperate. When another girl is abducted and her bloody fingernails mailed to the police, tongues begin to loosen.

Watch Moreno & tystnaden Trailer :

Review :

Doesn't make it above the average

For those not familiar with the style of Swedish crime stories I can best describe them as heavy on the social commentary. Stories about the criminal mind(almost every movie about mass-murderers), his/her crimes(think old school, Agatha Christie, Conan Doyle) or the work of the police(CSI, Hill Street Blues and such) are all discarded if they don't contain a heavy dose of social commentary.

Looming in the background of Moreno & tystnaden is a religious cult. Obviously the author (who by the way is from my home town!) had something to say about religion and cults but it never got through to the audience. The cult is reduced to a simple cliché ("The one's who follow God will live and the one's who don't will die!" - Geez, is that the best they could come up with?)and with that the movie loses a lot of credibility. I don't know if it was like this in the book (i hope not!) or if this is just the result of a clumsy director, either way it reduces this movie to something that doesn't make it above the average.

The plot is OK but not very well executed. Main star Rexed is obsessed to find a serial killer when she fails to reach his second victim in time. This however isn't reflected throughout the movie until the very end. Up until then we lose valuable character development which is another trait of Swedish crime stories.

Another BIG disappointment is the lines these fine actors have to deal with. They make them sound like newbies when it comes to acting. Even seasoned award-winner Sven Wollter has a hard time getting his lines to sound natural. This is apparent the entire movie.

So all in all this is a disappointment. I should tell you that this is my first glimpse of the highly acclaimed Van Veeteren series, and I can only hope that it improves.